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³ P. S. Garlake, ‘Excavations at the Nhunguza and Ruanga Ruins, in Northern Mashonaland’, awaiting publication.

⁴ Garlake, P. S., ‘The value of imported ceramics in the dating and interpretation of the Rhodesian Iron Age’ J. Afr. Hist., IX, 4 (1968), 13–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar A little further evidence confirming this dating is available. The provenance of sherds of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain in the South African Museum, Cape Town, previously stated to have come from Zimbabwe (Loan exhibition of Antiquities from Zimbabwe. London: British Museum, 1930, 9)Google Scholar and which appear from colour photographs to belong to the Wan Li period of the Ming dynasty (A.D. 1573–1619), has now been found to read: ‘Found at Bulawayo when occupied, presented C. J. Rhodes, 1894’ (Mrs E. Voigt, pers. comm.). They therefore certainly do not come from Zimbabwe, but presumably from the Khami Ruins outside Bulawayo, where their presence is unexceptional. Since the original paper was written, Mr D. Abraham has shown me a reference to his contention that at Zimbabwe ‘the Great Enclosure and Large Conical Tower were already fundamentally complete by mid-fifteenth century at the latest’ (Stokes, E. and Brown, R., ‘Editors' Introduction’ in The Zambesian Past. Manchester: University Press, 1966, xvi). No published evidence or further details expanding this have been found.Google Scholar

⁵ Information was analysed from Summers, R. and Cooke, C. K., An archaeological survey of Rhodesia, Supplement I to the Annual Report of the Commission for the preservation of natural and historical monuments and relics (Salisbury, Government Printer, 1958), the source material on which this survey was based, and later material in the Archaeological Survey files of the Historical Monuments Commission, Bulawayo, including replies to questionnaires circulated to all District Commissioners and European farmers between 1966 and 1968.Google Scholar

⁶ The most comprehensive compilation of such reports is Hall, R. N. and Neal, W. G., The ancient ruins of Rhodesia (London: Methuen, 1902), which includes information on a number of ruins throughout Rhodesia, of which the authors considered there were ‘very considerably over 500 distinct sets’. This work is sufficiently reliable to be of use only for sites in southern Matabeleland examined by the authors themselves; i.e. chapters XV–XXI, 227–326.Google Scholar

⁷ This is the ‘Class R walling’ of Zimbabwe as described by Whitty in Robinson et al., ‘Zimbabwe excavations’, 292, with dating discussed at 325, 330.

⁸ Corresponding to ‘Class P walling’ at Zimbabwe as described by Whitty in Robinson et al., ‘Zimbabwe excavations’, 291.

⁹ Corresponding to Class Q walling’ at Zimbabwe as described by Whitty in Robinson et al., ‘Zimbabwe excavations’, 291.

¹⁰ Robinson et al., ‘Zimbabwe excavations’, passim.

¹¹ Stuiver, M. and Suess, H. E., ‘On the relationship between radiocarbon dates and true sample ages’, Radiocarbon, 8 (1966), 534–40CrossRefGoogle Scholar and Ralph, E. K. and Michael, H. N., ‘Problems of the radiocarbon calendar’ Archaeometry, 10 (1967), 3–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹² Fagan, B. M.. ‘Radiocarbon dates for sub-Saharan Africa—IV’, J. Afr. Hist., VII, 3 (1966), 504.Google Scholar

¹³ Pottery Classes 3 and 4 at Zimbabwe are described and distinguished on a consideration of only thirty-four vessels (taking seven different forms) and 104 sherds from one area of the 1958 excavations, while assemblages almost three times as large from other areas of the excavations are described as ‘Class 3 influenced by Class 4’: Robinson, et al., ‘Zimbabwe excavations’, 204, 206, 208.Google Scholar

¹⁴ Robinson, et al., ‘Zimbawe excavations’, 189, 328Google Scholar and Summers, R., ‘Iron Age industries of Southern Africa with notes on their chronology, terminology and economic status’, in Bishop, W. W. and Clark, J. D. (eds.), Background to Evolution in Africa (Chicago: University Press, 1967), 695.Google Scholar

¹⁵ Garlake, ‘Nhunguza Ruins’.

¹⁶ Robins, P. A. and Whitty, A., ‘Excavations at Harleigh Farm, near Rusape, Rhodesia, 1958–1962’, S. Afr. archaeol. Bull., XXI, 82 (1966), 61–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹⁷ Rudd, S., ‘Preliminary report of excavations, 1963–66, at Lekkerwater Ruins, Tsindi Hill, Theydon, Rhodesia’, Proc. Trans. Rhod. scient. Ass., 52, 2 (1968), 38–50.Google Scholar

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¹⁹ Chipadze's Ruin: AD. 1300±120 (SR–25), A.D. 1340±90 (SR–70) in Robins, and Whitty, , ‘Excavations at Harleigh Farm’, 66;Google Scholar A.D. 1510±90 (SR–71) in Fagan, , ‘Radiocarbon dates-IV’, 505.Google Scholar Lekkerwater ruin: A.D. 1390±120 (SR-108) and A.D.1300±120 (SR-109) in Rudd, , ‘Excavations at Lekkerwater ruin’, 49.Google Scholar Zaka ruin: AD. 1485±50 (SR–196) and A.D. 1695±55 (SR–195) in Garlake, P. S., ‘New Rhodesian Iron Age radiocarbon dates’, Rhod. Science News, 3, 12, (1969), 378–9. The latter radiocarbon date—probably corresponds to a true calendar date of about A.D. 1530±55 (see note 11 above).Google Scholar

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²¹ Garlake, , ‘Imported ceramics’, 25, 30.Google Scholar

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²⁵ Caton-Thompson, , Zimbabwe culture, 121–128 and 144–150.Google Scholar

²⁶ Of 52, Dhlo Dhlo, a structure in style 5, Summers writes of a walling sequence P-Q-P (Summers, , ‘Iron Age industries’, 697)Google Scholar i.e. from uncoursed to coursed to uncoursed masonry. If correct, this would seriously weaken the analysis of styles presented here. It is, however, clear in Summers, R., ‘Excavations at Dhlo Dhlo ruins 1959’, unpublished MS. in files of Historical Monuments Commission Bulawayo, 1959, that coursed walling in the technique of style 2 is succeeded by poorer coursed and then uncoursed walls: the former seems to resemble style 4 in technique, and the latter is the rough walling found at many large ruins and postdating the Zimbabwe–Khami period.Google Scholar

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³⁰ The group of related ruins at the foot of the Zambezi escarpment (1, Matanda e Chiwawa 2, Chiwawa's 3, Kasetete's and, Mutota's) appear to have been built in the early eighteenth century (Garlake, P. S., ‘Excavations at the seventeenth century Portuguese site of Dambarare, Rhodesia’, Proc. Trans Rhod. scient. Ass., 54, 4 (1969), 51).Google Scholar The Webster and Niamara ruins on the eastern border of Rhodesia have yielded seventeenth or early eighteenth century porcelains (Garlake, , ‘Imported ceramics’, 25–26).Google Scholar

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³² These explanations all seem better than that connecting Zimbabwe's decline with Portuguese interference in coastal trade in Garlake, , ‘Imported ceramics’, 29.Google Scholar

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³⁸ I would like to thank Mr J. A. Conradie and Mr J. K. Rennie, formerly of the University College of Rhodesia, and Dr A. D. Dachs and Mrs P. E. N. Tindall, presently of the College, for their most helpful suggestions and criticisms of a preliminary draft of this paper.